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 Blackburn Diocesan Board for Social Responsibility (BSR) deliver a series of projects working to improve family life, using volunteers
In its wish to address issues which affect the family (and as a consequence children and their education) BSR received funding from The Lancashire Children’s Fund to establish a family support project in Pendle in 2003. The project supports families where the children are not thriving within the school environment by:
- developing integrated packages of support with existing care agencies
- providing a voluntary befriending service to the family, using locally recruited volunteers
- running Parenting workshops, to encourage families to find their own solutions to problems
- holding small self esteem building groups for young people
- signposting families on to other agencies where applicable
- advocacy and support for parents at meetings, when requested
………and more
 Grassroots Family Support in Pendle provides support to families living in the Pendle area by providing regular visits from a trained and CRB cleared volunteer who will be a listening ear and offer practical help, when requested
The referrals come from various agencies or the families themselves. Any family who is under stress for whatever reason may be referred, providing they have children in the family aged between 5 and 13 years
After receiving a referral from the school, the Project Co-ordinator will visit the family and do an initial assessment of the family’s support needs and a risk assessment for any future volunteer visitor who may be placed with the family
Once a relationship has been established, the Co-ordinator is able to place a volunteer who is felt to be suitable to work alongside the family in question. This is quite an important issue, as there needs to be a good working relationship between the family and visitor for there to be trust and growth which will enable the problems to be resolved
 The nature of the Project’s work is very much about esteem building and encouraging families to find their own practical solutions to meet their welfare and social needs
From this, it is hoped there will be a ‘trickle–down’ effect, which will benefit the children’s education and the wider community. If parents are under less stress at home, it is assumed their children will be happier and more likely to concentrate at school
 If you would like any further information on this Project, please contact:
Sue Clark
Family Support Co-ordinator
Tel: 01282 619 057 | 
